Video streaming: What’s next, what’s now?
We're big fans of streaming video into the living room, and whether its through an Xbox 360, Boxee, Roku or even hooking a laptop up, we think it's high time our cable bills started shrinking and internet video took over. Today, a Best Buy executive told the NYT that the company is looking to jump head first into the streaming game next year with a partnership with Cinema Now. Yesterday, rumors floated about Apple's intentions in the living room. What's streaming video really going to look like when it's done, and what's it going to take for us to get there? We ask Kevin Tofel of jkOnTheRun, and Jason Hiner of Tech Republic.
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Windows 7 launch day: Should you buy it?
We've been waiting for the launch of Windows 7 ever since it became readily apparent Windows Vista wasn't everything we were hoping for. Now, with Windows 7 hitting out of the gate today, users looking to tone down the 'nagware' of Vista, and tighten the memory footprint can do so, but should they? We ask Sam Axon of Obsessable, and Kevin Tofel of JKOnTheRun.
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Palm unveils unique app strategy, Google and Verizon cozy up
It's been a fairly eventful day in the mobile industry. Palm kicked it off by announcing an extremely unique app store strategy, and Google and Verizon continued the fun by announcing a pair up. What's all this commotion mean for the wireless industry at large? We ask LaptopMAG writer Todd Haselton, and JKOnTheRun's Kevin Tofel.
[Sidenote: Yes, the audio has problems. We had audio ghosts yesterday, and it looks like they returned for today's show. We'll get it locked down for tomorrow, thanks for bearing with us.]
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Zune HD launches (and our first live show!)
It's official, the Zune HD is out! But just because it's been hyped a little more than we were expecting doesn't mean it's necessarily worth the price. We talk to Clayton Morris from Fox News, and Kevin Tofel from JKOnTheRun about the new portable media player, and whether it's worth it or worthless.
Also, we're broadcasting the show Live on Ustream... check daily at 3pm EST for a new show.
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Snow Leopard: The first weekend
Now that we've all had the weekend to tinker around with Snow Leopard, we bring in Jason Snell from MacWorld and Kevin Tofel from JKOnTheRun to talk about our first weekend impressions of the new OS.
For me, anyway, I noticed a huge hard disk gain... roughly 20GB. Jason and Kevin explain that some of it has to do with the way math is calculated, and explain some of the ins-and-outs.
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Jobs sends Schmidt up creek: What’s next for Google / Apple?
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, is now an ex-board member for Apple. In the past, the two companies had been veritable best buds, working on projects like YouTube tightly integrated into the original iPhone, not to mention Google Maps. Now, it seems as if the honeymoon is over, as the two companies increasingly eye each others' market share in spaces like mobile, where Google's Android OS is seen as a credible threat to iPhone. What's next for Schmidt, and how do things look post boardroom battle? We ask Kevin Tofel of JKOnTheRun.com and Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group their takes on the future of tech, now that Apple and Google are less closely drawn together.
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Is Chrome OS a Google distraction?
Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, told reporters at a press conference he was reluctant to start developing software applications for consumers, and had resisted the eager Google founders' wishes for six years before Chrome saw the light of day. Did he have it right then? Should Google be focusing more on developing software, or defending its core business (search) from its competitors? We ask Ross Rubin from The NPD Group and Kevin Tofel from JKOnTheRun.com.
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Liver transplants and one million iPhone 3GS(es)
So what's the real reason behind Steve Jobs' medical leave? If a Wall Street Journal report is accurate, it's because the Apple CEO underwent a liver transplant in Memphis a few months back. That's not the end of the story, though, the weird revelations were oddly revealed Friday night at midnight, a perfect time for Apple. Should we believe anything Apple has to say? Should people look at Cupertino with an even more skeptical eye? We ask Executive Editor of PC Mag, Jeremy Kaplan, and JKOnTheRun.com's Kevin Tofel.
Guests:
- Jeremy Kaplan , PC Mag
- Kevin Tofel , JKOnTheRun.com
iPhone rumors aren’t game changers, plus which phone to buy in June
Another day, another bundle of Apple rumors– such is life in May. This time, we're hearing the iPhone might get an incremental storage bump to 32GB, plus an expanded processor, which would make applications easier to develop. Will it happen, and are these going to change the mobile landscape? We talk to Kevin Tofel of JKOnTheRun and Iyaz Akhtar of Gadgetell. Kevin maintains it's not that different from things we've seen before, and that the storage bumps are sort of "no duh" level rumors. Iyaz thinks if the rumors are true, there could be next-iPhone exclusive apps that wouldn't work on older models like the 3G and original.
When pressed whether this rumored iPhone is in either of their futures, both disagreed. Kevin's looking most forward to the Pre, and its Web OS based life, and Iyaz, though not planning to upgrade in the near term, doesn't think an OLED screen and extra storage will be enough to satisfy him.
What about you? Are you eying any of the next generation of smartphones? Which one will you pay for?
Twitter bug and Steve Jobs return
Twitter suffered a worm over the weekend, which wasn't the service's first brush with security problems, but did mark an increased awareness of the vulnerability of the service. Should users be able to trust every link that people send their followers? How can users figure out what's trustworthy and what isn't on Twitter, and on other social services? We talk to PCMag Editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff, and JKOnTheRun's Kevin Tofel about the circle of trust in the cloud.
Also, Steve Jobs' leave of absence is nearing its end, and with a Wall Street Journal report citing the Apple founder as overseeing company strategy while looking for his health, some pundits, like ZDNET's Larry Dignan, posed the question if Steve Jobs is better off as a figurehead who handles corporate strategy as a Chairman, rather than running the day-to-day operations as CEO Tim Cook is currently. Steve tried the "hands-off" approach in the 90s when he returned to Apple, making his title "interim CEO" rather than plain CEO, and our panel agrees Stevie J will have a hard time taking his hands off of the wheel, no matter how capable the team. Plus, given the fact that product development cycles are much longer than six months, Apple's fate in the hands of Jobs' successors remains uncertain with four months of leave. Regardless of the situation, one thing we can all agree on is a speedy recovery for Mr. Jobs.